Enhanced axial air mover system with enclosure profile

ABSTRACT

Implementations of an enhanced axial air mover system address various issues such as drying performance, transportability, storage, use, and assembly. Some implementations include ergonomic positioning of a carrying handle relative to positioning of a fan-assembly to make the system easier to carry. Enclosures with variable diameter profiles increase air flow performance. A floor edge allows for flush positioning of the air mover&#39;s outlet to improve flow of air. Various supports and engagement members allow for horizontal and/or vertical engagement of a plurality of the air movers for storage or increased air moving capacity for a given application. An alignment guide assists with positioning of the air mover with respect to a room wall to enhance air flow within the room. A cord retaining system provides an enhanced approach for securing the air mover&#39;s electrical cord. Grill guards have slotted ends to assist with assembly of the air mover.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to axial air movers.

2. Description of the Related Art

Air movers are used for such applications as to dry buildings and otherstructures when accidents have occurred causing areas in the buildingsand other structures to become wet. Unfortunately, conventional airmovers can be noisy, can waste energy, and can raise difficulties intransport, use, storage, and assembly of the units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevational side view of a firstfan-assembly version of an enhanced axial air mover system.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional elevational side view of a secondfan-assembly version of the enhanced axial air mover system.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional elevational side view of a thirdfan-assembly version of the enhanced axial air mover system.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevational side view of a fourthfan-assembly version of the enhanced axial air mover system.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional elevational side view of the enhanced axialair mover system having radiused edges.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevational side view of the enhanced axialair mover system having tapered edges.

FIG. 7 is an elevational inlet view of an augmented implementation ofthe first fan-assembly version of the enhanced axial air mover system.

FIG. 8 is an elevational outlet view of the augmented implementation ofthe enhanced axial air mover system of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an elevational outlet view of a matrix configuration of aplurality of the augmented implementations of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of an engaged pair of the augmentedimplementations of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a top-outlet perspective port side view of the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is an elevational port side view of the augmented implementationof FIG. 7.

FIG. 13 is a bottom-outlet perspective starboard side view of theaugmented implementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 14 is an elevational starboard side view of the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 15 is an elevational starboard side view of a vertically stackedpair of the augmented implementations of FIG. 7.

FIG. 16 is a drying performance chart.

FIG. 17 is an elevational front view of person carrying the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 18 is a top-inlet perspective port side view of the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 19 is a top plan view of the augmented implementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 20 is a bottom plan view of the augmented implementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 21 is a top view of a room being dried by four of the augmentedimplementations of FIG. 7 showing airflow.

FIG. 22 is a top view of the room being dried by the four augmentedimplementations of FIG. 7 showing drying area.

FIG. 23 is a top plan view of the augmented implementation of FIG. 7showing alignment with a wall of the room of FIG. 21.

FIG. 24 is a top-outlet perspective starboard side view of the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7 with a cord restraint system.

FIG. 25 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 24 showing engagementdetail of the court restraint system.

FIG. 26 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 24 showing disengagementdetail of the cord restraint system.

FIG. 27 is a top-outlet perspective port side view of the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7 with an attached grill guard.

FIG. 28 is a top-inlet perspective port side view of the augmentedimplementation of FIG. 7 with an attached grill guard.

FIG. 29 is an enlarged exploded fragmentary view of one either of thegrill guards of FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 showing engagement detail with theaugmented implementation of FIG. 7.

FIG. 30 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the grill guards of FIG. 29with the grill being attached in a first position.

FIG. 31 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the grill guards of FIG. 29with the grill being attached in a second position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As discussed herein, implementations of an enhanced axial air moversystem address various issues such as drying performance,transportability, storage, use, and assembly. Some implementationsinclude ergonomic positioning of a carrying handle relative topositioning of a fan-assembly to make the system easier to carry.Implementations have enclosures with variable diameter profiles toincrease air flow performance through the air mover. A floor edge allowsfor flush positioning of the air mover's outlet to improve flow of airafter exhausted from the air mover. Various supports and engagementmembers allow for horizontal and/or vertical engagement of a pluralityof the air movers for storage or increased air moving capacity for agiven application. An alignment guide assists with positioning of theair mover with respect to a room wall to enhance air flow within theroom. A cord retaining system provides an enhanced approach for securingthe air mover's electrical cord. The air mover's grill guards haveslotted ends to assist with assembly of the air mover.

A first fan assembly version 100 of the enhanced axial air mover systemis shown in FIG. 1 as having an inlet 102 to receive intake air 104flowing toward the system in the direction of the Z-axis and an outlet106 to release exhaust air 108 flowing from the system in the directionof the Z-axis. The first version 100 has a housing assembly 110including an enclosure 112 and a handle 114 extending therefrom. Thehandle 114 includes a grip 116 and a bracket 118. The enclosure 112 hasan interior 120 with an inner surface 122 depicted in FIG. 1 with astraight profile. The enclosure 112 has edges 123 on both the inlet 102and the outlet 106 depicted in FIG. 1 as blunt. The first version 100further includes a fan assembly 124 having a propeller 126 with blades128 extending from a hub 130. The fan assembly also includes a motor 132with a shaft 133 extending therefrom with the hub 130 attached thereto.The motor 132 has a power cord 134 protruding through a passageway 135in the enclosure 112. The motor 132 is held in place relative to theenclosure 112 with support vanes 136 extending from the enclosure. Thesupport vanes 136 are shaped to help guide the exhaust air 108 leavingthe system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the motor 132 is located along the Z-axissubstantially near the outlet 106. The propeller 126 is positioned inthe interior 120 farther from the outlet 106 than the motor 132 is fromthe outlet. Since the motor 132 weighs significantly more than thepropeller 126, the combined center of gravity (CG) of the motor and thepropeller as the fan assembly 124 is located approximately near thecenter of the motor along the Z-axis as shown in FIG. 1. The grip 116 ofthe handle 114 is positioned along the Z-axis to be substantiallyaligned along a second dimension substantially perpendicular to theZ-axis with the center of gravity (CG) of the fan assembly 124 to allowfor greater ease in transport of the system. In many implementations,the Z-axis is substantially horizontally oriented and the seconddimension substantially perpendicular to the Z-axis is substantiallyvertically oriented with the system is being carried.

A second fan assembly version 140 is shown in FIG. 2 in which thepropeller 126 is located substantially near the outlet 106 and the motor132 is located farther from the outlet. The position of the grip 116 ofthe handle 114 along the Z-axis is changed in the second fan assemblyversion 140 to be aligned with the center of gravity (CG) of the fanassembly 124 of the second fan assembly version 140.

A third fan assembly version 150 is shown in FIG. 3 in which thepropeller 126 is located substantially near the inlet 102 and the motor132 is located farther from the inlet. The position of the grip 116 ofthe handle 114 along the Z-axis is changed in the third fan assemblyversion 150 to be aligned with the center of gravity (CG) of the fanassembly 124 of the third fan assembly version 150.

A fourth fan assembly version 160 is shown in FIG. 4 in which the motor132 is located substantially near the inlet 102 and the propeller 126 islocated farther from the inlet. The position of the grip 116 of thehandle 114 along the Z-axis is changed in the fourth fan assemblyversion 160 to be aligned with the center of gravity (CG) of the fanassembly 124 of the fourth fan assembly version 160.

The enclosure 112 is shown in FIG. 5 as having a version of the edges123 curved with a substantially constant radius such that the curve ofthe edge is sized approximately half the thickness, T, of the enclosure.The enclosure 112 of FIG. 5 is shown to house any one of the first fanassembly version 100, the second fan assembly version 140, the third fanassembly version 150, and the fourth fan assembly version 160. Theenclosure 112 has a version of the inner surface 122 with asubstantially straight profile.

The enclosure 112 is shown in FIG. 6 as having a version of the edges123 as tapered. The tapering of the edges 123 is such that for an inletportion 170 of the enclosure, the diameter of the inner surface 122changes from D_in at the inlet 102 to D_mid1 at the Z_mid1 locationalong the Z axis in from the inlet along the Z-axis. The change ofdiameter between D_in and D_mid1 for the inlet portion 170 can be atleast as much as twice the average thickness, T, of the enclosure 112 insome implementations. In other implementations the change in diameterfor the inlet portion 170 between D_in and D_mid1 is at least as much asfive to ten percent of the diameter, D_in, at the inlet.

The diameter of the enclosure 112 continues to decrease along the Z-axisfor a first mid-portion 172 of the enclosure from a diameter of D_mid1at the Z_mid1 location to D_mid2 at the Z_mid2 location approximatelynear a mid location along the Z-axis so that the inner surface 122 has asubstantially variable profile for the inlet portion 170 and the firstmid-portion 172. Farther toward the outlet 106 along the Z-axis for asecond mid-portion of the enclosure 112 from the Z_mid2 location to aZ_mid3 location, the diameter of the enclosure 112 increases graduallyfrom D_mid2 at the Z_mid2 location to D_mid3 at the Z_mid3 location. Foran outlet portion 176 of the enclosure 112 the diameter of the enclosureincreases more abruptly from D_mid3 at the Z_mid3 location to D_out atthe outlet 106 so that the inner surface 122 has a substantiallyvariable profile between the second mid-portion 174 and the outletportion 176. In some implementations, the change in diameter betweenD_mid3 and D_out can be at least half as great as the change in diameterbetween D_in and D_mid1. The enclosure 112 of FIG. 6 is shown to houseany one of the first fan assembly version 100, the second fan assemblyversion 140, the third fan assembly version 150, and the fourth fanassembly version 160.

An augmented implementation 180 of the first fan-assembly version 100 isshown in FIG. 7 as having a top 181, a bottom 182, a port 183, and astarboard 184. The bracket 118 of the handle 114 has a platform 186 tosupport an additional one of the augmented implementation 180 positionedabove the depicted augmented implementation as further described below.Two vertical supports 188 extend upward from the top 181 to furthersupport the additional above-positioned one of the augmentedimplementation 180. Each of the vertical supports 188 has a peg 190 toengage with the additional above-positioned one of the above augmentedimplementation 180.

Extending from the bottom 182 are two legs 192 each having a floor guard194 to support the inlet portion 170 and the first mid-portion 172 on afloor. Extending from the port 183 are port supports 196. Extending fromthe starboard 184 are starboard supports 198. The starboard support 198is further shown to have a peg 200 for engagement with the port supportof another of the augmented implementations 180.

In FIG. 8, the augmented implementation 180 is shown to have an opening202 in each of the legs 192 to receive the peg 190 of one of thevertical supports 188 of a lower-positioned one of the augmentedimplementations 180. The augmented implementation 180 has a support pad204 that rests on the platform 186 of a lower-positioned augmentedimplementation. The augmented implementation 180 has a floor edge toallow for a more flush positioning of the inlet portion 102 with a floorof a room. As discussed herein, a more flush positioning allows forenhanced flow of the exhaust air 108.

The matrix 210 having m rows by n columns of a plurality of instances ofthe augmented implementation 180 is shown in FIG. 9. The port supports196 of the first column of the augmented implementations 180 are engagedwith respective ones of the starboard supports 198 of the second columnof the augmented implementations and so on for other adjacent columns ofthe augmented implementations of the matrix 210.

The support pads 204 of the second row of the augmented implementations180 rest upon the respective platforms 186 of the first row of theaugmented implementations and so on for other adjacent rows of thematrix 210. The pegs 190 of the vertical supports 188 of the first rowof the augmented implementations 180 engage with the respective openings202 of the legs 192 of the augmented implementations of the second rowof the matrix 210.

Various subsets of the matrix 210 can be implemented such as having asingle row or a single column. For instance, a single row could have aslittle as two of the augmented implementations 180 coupled together asshown in FIG. 10. Alignment guides 214, further discussed herein, areshown on the top of the outlet portion 176 of the augmentedimplementations 180.

The floor edge 206 and associated downward pitch of the outlet portion176 relative to the inlet portion 170 of the augmented implementation180 is better shown in FIG. 11 through FIG. 14. The floor edge 206allows the outlet portion 176 of the augmented implementation to bepitched down toward a floor surface relative to the inlet portion 170.Instead of the outlet portion 176 being completely circular near theoutlet 106, a section of the outlet portion is missing. The missingsection forming the floor edge 206 of the outlet portion 176 is shapedas though a horizontal slice is taken through the outlet portion nearthe bottom 182 of the augmented implementation 180 as the outlet portionis being pitched downward relative to the inlet portion 170. The flooredge 206 allows more of the outlet portion 276 to be flush with a floor,in comparison to a case in which the outlet 106 was completely circularthereby allowing an increase in air flow near the floor surface of theexhaust air 108 leaving the outlet.

As shown in FIG. 15, for a column of a pair of an upper one 180 u of theaugmented implementations 180 of the pair and a lower one 180 l of theaugmented implementations of the pair, the legs 192 and the support pad204 of the upper one are sized and positioned relative to the platform186 and the vertical supports 188 of the lower one so that the pitchangle, P, for each of the augmented implementations of the column pairis substantially the same.

A drying performance graph of FIG. 16 shows total floor area dried asarea under a curve for three configurations: 1.) parallel, 2.) angled,and 3.) flush angled. The parallel configuration is similar to theaugmented implementation 180, however, without the outlet portion 176pitched downward relative to the inlet portion 170 and without the flooredge 206. The angled configuration is similar to the augmentedimplementation 180 having the outlet portion 176 being pitched downwardrelative to the inlet portion 170, but without the floor edge 206. Theflush angled configuration is similar to the augmented implementation180 having the outlet portion 176 being pitched downward relative to theinlet portion 170 and having the floor edge 206.

As shown by the graph of FIG. 16, the parallel configuration has theleast amount of area under its curve indicating that the least amount offloor area was dried with this configuration. The angled configurationhas about the same amount of drying area as the parallel configurationexcept for a large drying area away from the angled configuration airblower as airflow turns a corner of a room. The flush angledconfiguration has the most area under the curve indicating that theflush angled configuration has the most drying area. The flush angledconfiguration also has relatively even drying area and the most dryingarea near the air blower of the three configurations depicted.

As shown in previous figures such as FIG. 13, to conform with a plane ofthe floor when the outlet portion 176 is pitched, the floor edge 206 isshaped as a curvilinear cut of the circular outlet 106. The curvilinearcut of the floor edge 206 can be used to another advantage for carryingthe augmented implementation 180 as shown in FIG. 17. Since both thehandle 114 and the floor edge 206 are located near or at the outlet 106,the curvilinear aspect of the floor edge can be used to position theaugmented implementation 180 in a more ergonomic position for transport.By allowing the floor edge 206 to be positioned near the leg or otherportion of an individual carrying the augmented implementation, the armused to carry can be brought closer to the torso resulting in a morecomfortable position for carrying the augmented implementation.

The variable profile for the inlet portion 170 of the augmentedimplementation 180 is indicated in FIG. 18. The variable profiles forthe inlet portion 170, the first mid-portion 172, the second mid-portion174, and the outlet portion 176 are indicated in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20.

An example of placement of the augmented implementation 180 in a room230 with walls 232 and a floor 234 to be dried is shown in FIG. 21 andFIG. 22. By placing each of the augmented implementations 180 at apredetermined angle such as an acute angle, (such as approximately 30°for a version of the augmented implementation) with a different one ofthe walls 232, air flow 236 is distributed in a relatively uniformmanner along the walls 232 and across the floor 234. The relativelyuniform distribution of the air flow 236 results in a relatively largeand evenly distributed dried area 238 of the floor 234 as shown in FIG.22.

For various versions of the augmented implementation 180, there willgenerally be a particular acute angle 240 for aligning the augmentedimplementation relative to the wall 232. As shown in FIG. 23, thealignment guide 214 can be arranged to have a perpendicular instance 242to be used to align the augmented implementation 180 relative to thewall 232. For the case in which the alignment guide 214 is used as theperpendicular instance 242, the augmented implementation 180 is alignedrelative to the wall 232 such that the alignment guide 214 isapproximately perpendicular to the wall. In other versions of theaugmented implementation 180 other instances of the alignment guide 214having other position angles relative to the wall 232 can be used.

The power cord 134 is shown in a secured position in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25by using an elastic member 246, having a capability of resuming originalshape after being stretched or expanded, to fasten the power cord to aprotruding member such as a post 248 extending from the augmentedimplementation 180. As shown, the post 248 extends from the outletportion 176 although in other versions of the augmented implementation180, the post could extend from other locations of the augmentedimplementation.

The location of the post 248, expanded length and contracted length ofthe elastic member 246, length of the power cord 134, and location ofthe power cord passageway 135 are synergistically adjusted so that theelastic member 246 can be stretched to give sufficient tension to holdthe power cord in place after the power cord has been wrapped around aportion of the augmented implementation 180 (such as being wrappedaround the outlet portion 176 as depicted) when the elastic member iscoupled with the post 248, or other protruding member. The elasticmember 246 is also secured around a head portion 250 of the power cord134 as depicted, however, in other versions, the elastic member can becoupled to the power cord in some other manner. To use the augmentedimplementation 180, the elastic member 246 is uncoupled from the post248 as shown FIG. 26.

A grill guard 260 having support members 261 is shown in FIG. 27 withthe support members coupled to the outlet portion 176 and is shown inFIG. 28 with support members coupled to the inlet portion 170 throughbrackets 262. As shown in FIGS. 29-31, the grill guard 260 has slottedend portions 264 that receive a washer 266 and screw 268 to couple witha threaded hole 270 in the bracket 262. The slotted end portion 264 hasan elongated opening 272 that allows the slotted end portion 264 to bepositionally adjusted relative to the screw 268 when the screw iscoupled to the threaded hole 270 to account for dimension differences inthe inlet portion 170 and the outlet portion 176 due to variation inmanufacturing conditions. Consequently, use of the slotted end portions264 on the grill guard 260 reduce assembly problems due to manufacturingvariations.

Conventional air movers used in water damage restoration have beencentrifugal type fans of dual inlet design. While there is a range ofsizes and power configurations the vast majority fall in the ¼ to ½horsepower (HP) range with ⅓ HP being typical. This type of fan wouldgenerate about 1250 cubic feet per minute (CFM) and have a staticpressure capacity at zero flow at around 3 inches of water column. Thistype fan would draw about 5 amps at 115V. When multiple fans were usedto do structural drying work finding enough available power became asissue. Contractors were using more and more fans on a job in an effortto speed the drying process. We looked at adapting axial fans that hadbeen used for ventilation of confined spaces to this type of structuraldrying.

Items that had to be balanced in the design included the Diameter of theaxial fan, the number of blades, the pitch of the blades, motor HP, RPM,blade tip clearance, barrel length and inlet and outlet design.

A vane axial fan with a 16″ blade diameter in the correct housing couldproduce around 2000 CFM with a static pressure at zero flow of 1.3inches of water column. This performance level required 1.4 HP whichwould draw 2.5 amps. This setup gave the contractor more airflow perunit running at half the amps. A given structural drying job would nowdry quicker with less setup issues.

As we looked at how the fans were drying the structure we saw someopportunity for improvement. The air outlet of the fan is directed atthe wall at an angle so that the air flows down the wall but alsomaintains a higher air pressure zone against the wall. If we ran the fanat no angle to the wall the air velocity down the wall increased but theamount of structural material, walls and floors, that was being drieddecreased. We looked at angles from 5 to 55 degrees and found thatangles between 25 and 35 degrees produced the largest drying area. Werecommend a 30 degree angle against the wall.

We changed from a 8 blade 35 degree pitch to a 6 blade 30 pitch becausewe found that the inherent static load at the 30 degree angle to thewall would allow us to run the 6 blade configuration and increase flowand the overall drying area without adding more load, it still ran at2.5 amps.

We also found that by shaping the air outlet to direct the flow down atfloor level increased the amount of drying area. The original shelldesign was from a vane axial fan model line that we produced which usedduct connection rings for the attachment of long runs of flexibleducting. This left a sharp edge at both the inlet and outlet thatcreated some level of shock loss in the airflow. Because the structuraldrying application did not require any type of duct connection wechanged the shape of the inlet and outlet in minimize the transition atthe opening. This gave us much cleaner flow coming into the blade areaand increased overall flow numbers. We were able to increase the size ofthe diameter of the blade to 17 inches without increasing the amp drawabove the 2.5 amps in the smaller shell.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specificembodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, various modifications may be made without deviating fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is notlimited except as by the appended claims.

1. An air mover system comprising: a fan assembly including a propellerand a motor, the propeller coupled to the motor; and a housing assemblyincluding an enclosure, the enclosure having an interior bounded by aninlet and an outlet, the fan assembly positioned within the interior,the enclosure having a variable diameter including a first diameter atthe inlet, a second diameter at the outlet and a third diameter at amid-point on a first dimension extending from the inlet and outlet, thedifference between the first diameter and the third diameter is at leastfive percent of the first diameter.
 2. The air mover system of claim 1wherein the difference between the first diameter and the third diameteris at least ten percent of the first diameter.